Embrace
by tsunami mermaid
Summary: Chaos. Chaos. Chaos... a destroyed way of life... a torn family... a dictator...and possibly.. a glimmer of unforeseen hope in a hopeless world. They'll never see it coming.
1. Chapter 1

He couldn't get his green, three fingered hands to type fast enough. His large fingers flew across the keys, electricity seemingly emanating off them as new thoughts sparked his brain. You could practically see the wheels turning and the cogs meshing together in his head, his eyes darting constantly across the screen.

Pop-ups, barriers, and fire walls were continuously springing up on the screen. Each one he tore down with ease, but his fingers were moving ever faster to beat the clock.

5..

4..

3..

2..

"In!" Donatello leaned back, stretched, and crossed his hands behind his head impressively.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back Mr. Sakahira." The voice came from the computer. He leaned forward again, cracked his knuckles, and dove back into his work.

Hacking government computers was Donatello's favorite past-time, especially when he was posing as the third most powerful person in the United States.

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><p>"Three, two, one, sold! Best price on that Superman nightlight I've found yet. Score!"<p>

Mikey felt something small and fluffy jump into his lap.

"Hey Millie, how do you like your newest cat bed? Comfier?" He picked the cat up in his hands and toughed his beak to the side of its face, nuzzling its fur softly. Another cat jumped up onto his knees, and he put Millie down.

"Hello Sophie." This cat was greeted with soft strokes to the back.

Another ball of fur brushed up against his computer chair. "Yo, Jaws, get out of here. Nobody likes you." The large grey cat hissed at his feet as he shoved it aside with his foot.

Michelangelo put Sophie down gently and gazed around in search of his oldest and most beloved pet. His eyes scanned room. There were boxes everywhere. They lined the walls and made towers in the middle of the room, each individually labeled Ebay.

Cats and small kittens seeped from every crack between the city of boxes. He owned 21 in total, three of whom were expecting new litters and 12 of which were currently within sight.

He spotted a small orange fluff ball twitch in the corner. Rising from his computer chair, he clumsily leapt over the scattered boxes and attempted to squeeze his chubby figure between the towers. Many boxes fell with a crash in the process.

Reaching the old cat, the eldest of all of them, he picked up the fragile creature and cradled it in his arms. "Ah, Klunk, my only friend, will today bring any surprises?"

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><p>Thick grey smog painted the sky, hiding all stars from view. It wasn't pretty, but it was familiar. After living in Ney York City all his life, there was no way he was living anywhere but a city. He tried living in the county once. It was wonderful, but it wasn't like home; the lights, the smells, and most importantly, the crime. Detroit Michigan was perfect.<p>

Of course, there was a lot of crime just about everywhere you turned these days. But that's only to be expected when you live under a dictatorship.

He leapt suddenly from the multi-story building he was perched upon into the gleaming city lights below. He fell, and fell, and fell. It appeared he would keep falling to hs definite doom if he had not grabbed a balcony rail hanging off the side of an apartment. With little effort, he pulled himself onto it. He could feel it shake and rattle dangerously under his weight, but it held. Routinely, he scanned the area for bystanders or curious eyes peeking out of gleaming windows. All was still' it was unlikely anyone would be out at night, but it was severely important to be sure.

Sensing everything was clear, he slid the dark window open, and stepped inside the abandoned apartment building. The room was pitch black, but he could see enough to make his way around. Knowing the importance of keeping the abandoned building dark was key. If someone saw a light on inside, they would surely discover that he'd been living there, and that he, Hamato Rapheal, was not dead after all.

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><p>Ok, so hopefully you've realized that things have gotten extremely out of hand with the country, and the turtles. I'll update ASAP, but I'm really going to need reviews to help power this one.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Slowly Donatello rose from his computer chair. He cracked his neck and stretched his spine; he hadn't moved from his chair in over 10 hours, not even to go to the bathroom or refill his depressingly empty coffee mug. Six years ago his brothers would have come in and literally dragged him out after 4 hours, but not anymore. Things had changed.

He walked sluggishly over to the bathroom. Everything was dark. He'd actually gotten quite used to it, and couldn't remember the last time he'd seen daylight, or even turned on the lights for that matter. All he really needed was the light of his computer.

After relieving himself, he walked into his kitchen. It was a tiny room, large enough to hold only a sink, a fridge, a microwave, a coffee pot, and a single counter space. There was no stove or dishwasher, those things weren't necessary.

Exhausted, he popped yet another frozen dinner into the microwave. There was no need for coffee tonight, he was going straight to bed afterwards.

Once the dinner was done heating, he plopped himself lazily back at his desk. There really was no other place to relax in "The Cave." That's what Mikey had named it when Don first moved in, because it was literally built out of a natural chasm underground, off of a sewage way underneath Washington DC. It was about the size of a large apartment, but when you added in all the tech equipment, it was severely lessened in living space.

Mikey, of course, had never been there, but Don had sent him pictures via email. After the death of their Master four years ago, Mikey had vowed to never leave the lair. As time went by, Don had started noticing how firmly Mike had chosen to stick to his vow. Although, if things had gone differently, they'd all still be living at home in New York City.

Don leaned his head back in his chair as he relived those happy days of being at home with his brothers. Visions of training and laughing and having a constant source of comfort danced in his head. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep, his mind clinging to what used to be, and simpler times.

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><p>Mike felt something light land on his chest. He jumped slightly, only to realize that it was just Sparks, another one of the cats he had padding around the place. She was also one of the older, pregnant cats, making her one of Mikey's favorites.<p>

"Hey sweetie, what time is it?" He glanced at the clock on the TV. "Wow, slept another 16 hours, again. I really need an alarm clock." He slowly stood, leaving the chubby cat on the couch, and walked over to the kitchen. Glancing in the fridge, he pulled out a soda. and plopped himself down at the table.

"Who am I kidding," he said, head in one hand. "There's no need for an alarm clock, there's nothing to do." He took another swig of his soda and decided that the couch was a much comfier place to sit. With an luck he would fall back asleep again.

Turning on the TV, he automatically switched to the news to see what sort of havoc the country had thrown itself into this time.

"In recent News, the Prime Ruler has started calling upon the youth, in preparation for the upcoming strike against France. Children ages 12 and up are being dragged from their campuses, some hands in chains. Many are unwilling to participate, as if being ripped from their parents wasn't enough. Others, especially the younger generations, who were separated from their families at a much younger age, are eager to begin this transition. Serving in the Prime Rulers army is the greatest honor that these young ones now get to experience first hand."

Mike rolled his eyes and gave a disgusted sneer.

"For our local news this evening, three second level girls have gone missing. All are under the age of ten. One of their teaching officers stated that he last saw them at 8:30 last night, leaving from their last schooling session of the evening, and were on their way to the dining hall. No one has seen them since. If these females are spotted, please call the local Detection Agency immediately, so that we can get them back on track."

Mike turned off the TV instantly. There was only so much of the news he could take each day without wanting to vomit.

The government had gone berserk only 6 years ago, and already the world changed. Only France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, England, and all of Australia had managed to remain out of the Prime Rulers grasp. America and Japan had gone first, followed soon after by the whole of Africa. The Head Mistress saw to it that Africa was given the highest of technology and artillery, and together, the two countries and entire continent took down all of Asia. Most every other country fell soon after that.

Only a month later, the Utroms were exposed to the humans when they came down from their home-world in an attempt to stop the Prime Ruler. He, however, was able to persuade the human life forms that these creatures were here for an invasion of the earth, which was quite how it appeared. In fear, the now growing empire of the Prime Ruler took its attacks up against the Utroms, and destroyed the majority of their ships, forcing them into retreat. They haven't visited since.

Mikey sighed and leaned his head back. The Shredder had assassinated their governments, taken over the world, the free and controlled countries are at war, children are separated from their families at birth and sent into battle at age 12, and the world was fully aware of alien life forms. Not only that, they had also unknowingly destroyed all hope of getting help from said alien life forms. All Hell had literally broken loose, and there was nothing anyone could do about it!

With thoughts of the good-old-days surrounded by his brothers and beloved father bouncing around in his head, he fell into yet another nightmare-plagued sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

He walked straight as an arrow down the dirty, deranged hallway. The windows were smashed out and boarded up, there were numerous floor boards missing every few feet, and the whole place was dark and powdered in dust. But that didn't sway his nerves one bit. It never did.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he pushed open a large set of sturdy oak doors, still in good shape despite the place, and entered.

The sight before him was extraordinary, though not foreign to him. Just through the grand doorway stood a group that gave the appearance of a stoic mob. There appeared to be at least 150 people, all filthy with grime on their faces and cloths, and silent as the dead. Not a word was spoken; not a mouth moved. No one dared to say a word in fear of the police noticing that not all was as it seemed with the abandoned, ancient business building.

It was not your typical crowd. Even as the giant turtle entered not a gasp or cry pierced his heart. Instead, just a silent nod of approval from followers to a leader.

Raphael stood and beheld his followers, his army. He walked strongly across the trodden bare earth, not even covered by a proper floor. It had been destroyed years ago.

The crowd parted as he moved towards the front of the room. Upon reaching the back wall he climbed onto a large wooden crate, and looked over the rebels. They stared up at him, their faces barely visible in the candlelight.

"Good evening my friends. Can everybody hear me?" His voice was soft, just barely the above the volume of normal speech. Most nodded their heads, some raised their hands high to symbolize that they could not hear.

"Ok, I'll do my best to speak a little louder, but no noise can be heard form outside these walls, as you all know. Moving on. Where's Ross?" asked Raph to the audience.

There was a slight shift in the crowd before one of he members finally rose his hand and moved foreword.

"Ah, there ya are. What do our numbers look like this week?" Raph asked.

"We lost four members in a weapons raid on Tuesday, and our spy behind the operation working as the coordinator was caught on Wednesday. None of the members told the enemy anything though, and they are all scheduled to be put to death first thing Sunday morning." Ross's voice was high and slightly squeaky as it pierced the silence.

"Spectacular," Raph breathed sarcastically.

"Also, sir, the Cook's and the Saunder's and the Jameson's have had to go into hiding and will no longer be attending the meetings, and two of our members, Grace Young and Chaz Reimer, are still missing."

"Excellent," he said, yet again sarcastically. "I want to see those numbers after the meeting."

The man named Ross nodded.

"Ok, so as most of you could hopefully hear, our numbers are dropping... Again. But keep this in mind, each and every one of you; those who have fallen have fallen for us, for this. They held their heads high and kept their mouths silent to the very end. I promise you, they will not go down without a fight, so lets bring one to them."

Silent fists rose into the air. They were going to break into the prison for a rescue! Though, all they could do was pray that this time they would be successful. This was their fourth attempt at a rescue. The first one they had ever attempted had been a trap, which they had stupidly fallen into and lost many men. In the second one, they had lost more men than rescued. The third time they actually succeeded, so Raph had no idea what to expect this time.

"Alright, lets see, I'm going to take Brooks, Randy Smith, Joe Smith, McSon, Williams, and Chamberly for this one. I would like to see you after the meeting. Any objections?" No one raised their hands so Raph continued. "Alright then, we'll move at 10 o'clock tomorrow night, while the city's quiet."

The crowd nodded.

"Ok, next," his eyes fired up. "The French are coming our way. In exactly two weeks they'll be arriving by plane. There will only be a few ground troops to make sure that everything goes smoothly, everyone else will be in planes. Our job is to help those ground troops and make sure that the planes make it to the Shredders Tower here in Detroit. We need to keep the enemy soldiers inside the tower from getting to their planes and holding the French off. I'm going to need all of our troops down in the sewers. Yes, you heard me right, we're going in through the sewers. It's the easiest way to get into those hangers undetected. From this moment on I'm going to need Alpha flight here Mondays, Bravo Flight on Tuesday, Charlie on Wednesdays, Delta on Thursdays, Echo on Fridays, Foxtrot on Saturdays, and Gulf and Hotel Flights on Sundays to go over details, positioning, and strategy. We will meet as a group as scheduled on Fridays, is that understood?"

The crowd nodded darkly.

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><p><strong>Seriously, I NEED REVIEWS!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Don sifted anxiously through Mr. Sakahira's inbox. This was a daily activity that took exactly 30 minutes, because the government would reset only the most important officials passwords and codes every 30 minutes. There were very few messages, most pertaining to the upcoming conflict with France., but it was of little interest and revealed nothing Don didn't know already.

He closed out of the messaging system, but remained hacked into the site. In the darkness of his cave, he cackled maniacally to himself. _How easy everything had become. _He was now able to accomplish what the humans directly above him had spent years trying to achieve in just a few mere months. Of course, he had been fair to them, wanting nothing but the Shredders total annihilation, and helped them by providing some of his knowledge. Since then, he was pretty sure they viewed him more as an ally than just the creepy mutant living below them. They all worked together, he and the rebellious few, to take down the government, but Don chose to do his part in privacy.

Browsing through the system, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were floor plans, building layouts, documents on almost every person in the country, and folders filled with more folders filled with plans for the city.

He directed his attention to another link on the site and clicked it. Up popped the most dreaded and terrifying folder in the system; the Public Status App. It was what the government used to track everyone in the worlds current standing with the government. Don started as he always did; by typing in the names of his closest and dearest friends and family. He pulled up the Jones's profiles first.

Name: Jones, April

Age: 25

Location: Unknown

_blah blah blah, more info..._

Marital Status: Married

Known Family: Casey Arnold, husband, Gracelyn, daughter, George, Son

_blah blah blah..._

Status: Missing

Next...

Name: Donatello, Hamato

Age: 21

Status: Terminated

Next...

Name: Raphael, Hamato

Age: 21

Status: Terminated

Next...

Name: Michelangelo, Hamato

Age:21

Location: Known, New York City, New York, USA

Status:

Donatello nearly fell out of his chair, which would be pretty challenging considering it had arms on it. MIKEYS LOCATION WAS KNOWN! That was new information. Don had worked hard for years to make sure that his location and status remained a secret. He knew Mikey would refuse to leave NYC and was making himself a target, but Mikey refused t listen or do anything about it!

His heart beat like a snare drum, his breathing was shallow and rapid. He instantly reached fr the phone, is fingers nearly dropping it they were shaking so bad.

After only three rings, the person whose voice he needed to hear most finally picked up.

"Hey Donny, its been ages!Hows it hanging?" came Mikey's groggy voice through the other end.

"MIKEY!" Don shouted into the phone. He could picture Mike having to hold the phone back a good foot away from his face, but he didn't care. "Oh my God, Mikey! They've found out your location! You need to move, and fast! And I mean right now! They know where you're living and they'll be coming for you!" Don panted, out of breath.

"Wow Donny, take it easy. Wait, they know where I am? How?"

"You tell me! What did you do!" Don pleaded.

"I didn't do anything! At least, nothing I haven't been doing for years."

"You aren't still stuck on your online shopping are you?"

There was silence for a moment. "...uuuuugh.."

"Mikey! I told you not too! That is probably one of the dumbest, stupidest things you could possibly do! I cant believe you!" yelled Don. He was shocked by his brothers idiocy.

"Hey, chill, ok? Its not like I go around posting 'Hey, my names Michelangelo, and I live in an underground sewer tunnel underneath Manny's Discount Beverage in New York City' all over the internet! I'm not that stupid. The stuff's delivered to an abandoned Chinese Restaurant three blocks away. And the credit card I'm using is managed b April-"

"From Korea? Mikey, this is messed up! You STEAL the money to pay for that jacked up card and send it to April and Casey in Korea! Can you not see how messed up this is? Oh my God."

"Look, you do what you want with your life, but stay out of mine," Mikey's voice was dark and icy.

"You, have, a, problem!" retorted Don, trying to regain himself from his brothers last comment.

"This world id F-d up already; no one cares if I have a problem."

"Look Mikey, I don't have time to fight like this, and you definitely don't. You need help and you really need to get out of there. I'm calling Raph."

"What? No! Do not call Raph. Seriously, do not call him!"

"Look Mike, my hands are tied. If you wont listen to me than maybe he will be able to knock some sense into you.," said Don. Hos voice was soft as he accepted defeat. Not even his younger brother would listen to him. What was this world coming to?

"I swear Donatello, if you call him-"

"Hullo?" Raph's voice growled through the phone.

"What the-?"

"Three way calling," Don answered Mikey's unasked question. "Raph! They know where Mikey is! They're going to go after him," blurted Don.

There was silence, then - "You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not. And he needs to flee, now!" said Don.

"Jesus Mikey, what did you do!"

"I didn't do anything! If you two would just let me talk-" Mikey tried to get his voice in over the two overpowering brothers.

"It was the online shopping again, wasn't it?" asked Raph.

"No I-"

"It was. It was the stupid Ebay obsession," added Don.

"My God, Mikey, we've been over this a million times. Look, we cant discuss this right now, you have to leave. How exactly do you plan on getting out of state undetected?" asked Rah, preventing Mikey from further argument.

"Out of state?" he replied weakly.

"No duh shell for brains, out of state. There's no way you can stay anywhere in New York now that they know where you are. They wont stop looking. Get your butt down to Detroit and we'll figure something out." said Raph.

"Mikey, don't you remember that escape route I showed you years ago? The one I told you only to use for emergencies?" asked Don.

"Uuuuuugh..."

"If you go into Master Splinters old room there should be a loose stone under the mat. That will connect to the south tunnel."

"Donny, I'm not leaving," Said Mikey softly but firmly.

"Oh boy, here we go," Don rolled his eyes.

"Don't you dare be like this Michelangelo! I will personally come down there and drag your butt out if I have to. The problem is I wouldn't get down there in time so you sure as hell better move," said Raph, clearly frustrated.

"But Raph, this is my home, they cant run me out of my home!"

"They've already run every other person in the US out of theirs! Look around you. Times have changes, Mikey. There's no place for sentimental memories in this new world. Move on."

"But if we don't have our memories, then what do we have?" asked Mikey. Raph's words stung like a slap in the face.

"Each other. That is, as long as you stay safe."

Don, who had been fairly quiet, cautiously piped up. "Look guys, we can settle this later. Mikey, right now you just need to get out. We'll worry about the lair afterward, and I promise, but for right now please just do as we say. Please," Don's voice was soft and pleading. As frustrated as he was, he knew arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere. Time was running out, and he was desperate.

After a moment of silence, "Fine, I'll see what I can do."

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><p><strong>If no this continues to receive no reviews then this story will be discontinued. So Please, R&amp;R!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Don leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. After they'd gotten off the phone with Mikey, Raph had told him of his upcoming rescue mission, and the part he and his men were playing in the attack with France. The last thing Raph needed was more stress, especially if it involved his brothers.

He sighed. Their tiny family had already through enough, tortured and twisted in the hands of the Shredder.  
>The lair had been invaded and bombed . The family had gone to live with April and Casey, but being at the top of the wanted list brought trouble knocking at their door. April and Casey's place was burned to the ground. They had all only just made it out alive.<p>

Shortly after, April and Casey fled to Korea, but the turtles refused to leave their home city to the Shredder and the Foot. They lived in a cave off of the shores; a particularly damp and grimy one, even compared to the sewers. Master Splinter came down with a horrible case of the flu, and passed away soon after. The night he died was the night the three brothers split apart.

Ah, Leonardo. Their older brother who had gone completely mental. He remembered it like it was just yesterday...

_It started off with little things, such as not participating in some of Mikey's video games or movie nights. But that quickly turned into not showing up for meals, and eventually missing training sessions. Once, when Don was still awake late at night, he decided to go see if Leo still had his French Revolution book. He had borrowed it weeks ago when he couldn't sleep one night. Don figured he would sneak in and grab the book as quietly as he could (or as loudly as he could, because Leo was such a light sleeper he knew he'd try to kill him instinctively if he thought there was an intruder in his room). _

_Deciding that nudging him first to make him aware of his presence, rather than having a startled Leo smash his head into a wall, Don padded on up to his room._

_Upon reaching Leo's door, he noticed that something wasn't quite right. His brothers door, which was generally shut tight, lay slightly ajar. Slowly, he pushed the door open. It was instantly recognized that Leo was not in his room, where he should be at 3 o'clock in the morning. He stormed out of the room, leaned over the railing, and double checked the living room. Nothing. He knew he wasn't in the kitchen because he had been in there just five minutes earlier to get a glass of water. _

_After hours of waiting up, Leo finally came home. It was around 6, and Don sat bleary eyed in the kitchen. Only good old coffee had helped him all the way through the night. _

_As Leo entered, he noticed his eyes looked sunken in and sleep deprived, as if he hadn't slept in days. Don hadn't noticed that before. However, despite his exhausted state he looked quite alert, if not a little bit tense, and perhaps... fierce?_

"_Leo?" Don was quite surprised at his brothers state. None of this was at all like him._

_Leo stopped in his tracks. He had known his brother had been there, but had evidently hoped that he would just let him go about his business. _

"_What?" he hissed, his back turned. _

"_What's going on with you? Where have you been?"_

"_What I do on my time is my own business." Leo grouched, his back still turned. Don could see the muscles in his shoulders tense. _

"_It becomes our business when you start missing training sessions. You've missed three! That is so not like you! Raph had to spar by himself! Master Splinter is furious, but your not around enough to know that!"_

_Leo was silent for a moment. "Back off." the hiss was back in his voice, cold and sharp. He turned around and Don gasped silently._

_Running from the very edge of his bandana and down across his neck lay a giant gash of a cut, still fresh and seeping blood into his bandana. The place on the bandana where the cut started was torn and tattered, and the vessels in his eye were pouring tears of blood. All around his face was bruised deep purples and yellows. Don couldn't tell if he'd gotten cut in the eye or just hit; there was too much blood. _

"_Holy shit Leo! What happened?" Don exclaimed._

_Leo grinned slightly, but it was not the sort of grin Don wanted to see. There was something dark and tortured in his face. Don couldn't place the look. _

"_Mind your own business, Don." He replied, slightly softer, but only slightly. He suddenly ran off to his room, leaving Don quite bewildered. _

"_What the shell?" he said to himself._

_Deciding against his better judgment, he decided to follow Leo upstairs. He clearly needed medical attention, or the cut would get infected. And Don needed answers, whether Leo wanted to give them or not. _

_Reaching the top of the stairs, he found his brothers door to be tightly shut, as always. Mustering up as much courage as possible and telling himself that it was the right thing to do, Don knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. "Leo? Open up. Seriously, you cant hide. Don't be immature. Come out so I can help you clean up your face. Leo?" There was still no answer. _

_After a few moments of hollering at the door, Don saw Raph poke his head out of his doorway. _

"_Yo Donny, some people actually sleep in this place," he said, looking like he'd just been woken from a hounded year slumber. _

"_I know, but Leo's being a shell-for-brains. He's injured and he wont let me fix it."_

"_Well how did that happen?" Raph asked, stepping outside his doorway to stand next to Don. _

"_I don't know...He never came home last night," he whispered the last part. _

_Rap huffed. "Here we go again on the Leonardo Emotional Train Ride." He stepped towards the door. "Buckle up," he whispered to Don as he knocked. "Leo open this door."_

_Don held his breath. No answer._

"_Leo, get over yourself already and open this door!" he said, knocking a little louder. _

"_Whoa, what time is it?" asked Mikey as he came stumbling out of his room, rubbing his unmasked eyes. _

"_Time for our fearless leader to tell us whats been going on," said Raph as Don filled Mikey in on the rest. "Open this door Leo, or I swear, ill break it down."_

"_No Raph, its ok," said Don, a little bit hastily. "he'll come out when he's ready. And he'll probably need stitches, so it shouldn't take too long. I don't want to piss him off more." He put a hand on Raphs shoulder. _

_The small family went about their business for the rest of the day, waiting and watching, but Leo never came out._

_Night came again and still no sign of him. Eventually everyone fell asleep. The next morning they knocked and still received no answer. Training came and went, and still nothing. Master Splinter was furious. Lunch passed, dinner passed. _

"_But Donny, somethings not right! I want to go check on him," Mikey whined as Don clung to the back of his shell._

"_You're right, something isn't right! And thatch why you cant go see him." Mikey struggled harder against Dons grip, but not enough to hurt him or break entirely free. "Mikey, c'mon, stop."_

"_Hey, whats going on?" asked Raph, strutting out of the kitchen. _

"_Don wont let me go talk to Leo."_

"_Doesn't matter, he wont open his door anyway," said Raph, shrugging. _

"_Yeah, but its been over a day and a half! I mean, doesn't he have to pee or eat or something?" _

"_He probably went in the night or while we were training. He's the stealthy one, remember?" said Raph._

"_Yeah, and he's probably meditating. He can meditate for days," added Don._

"_But-"_

"_Look if he's not out by morning, I'll be the first person to drag his butt out, whether he likes it or not. But in the mean time, Dons right, we do need to give him space. He seems a little... off, and I don't want you on the bad end of it" Raph said, crossing his arms. "Wow, listen to me, I even sound like fearless," he mumbled under his breath._

_Mikey let his head bow defeatedly. He knew they were right. "Fine. Mornings only less than 12 hours away anyway."_

_The next morning Mikey was up bright and early. He was curious to see what Leo had been up to, and for some reason he just couldn't shake the unsettled feeling that had kept him awake most of the night. He just couldn't figure out what it was. He finally resorted it to the fact that he was just missing his big brother, whom he hadn't seen in 2 ½ days. _

_He jumped off his bed and trotted to the kitchen for a quick glass of water. His mouth was tortuously dry. Upon entering, though, he was surprised to find both Raph and Donny already awake and seated at the table. _

"_Hey, what are you guys doing up?" he asked._

"_Couldn't sleep," Raph replied, his voice muffled by his hands covering his face._

"_Hmm," said Mikey, pouring himself a glass of water and assuming that they had both had the same issue as him. He wolfed down his water like a madman. "Ok, lets go get Leo!" he said, dashing out of the kitchen and up the stairs._

"_Alright, lets go pull Fearless out of his brooding," said Raph, rising from the table and stretching. _

"_More like pull the honey badger out of its burrow. Seriously Raph, there's something going on with him," said Don. _

"_I know, you've said that a million times, but we cant just let him hide and rot in his room. We need to figure out whats going on."_

_they reached the top of the stairs. Mikey was already waiting for him, bouncing slightly, like a child given too much candy. Raph couldn't believe he had this much energy this early in the morning. _

_Once the two got there, Mikey knocked softly. _

"_Hey bro, its time to come out," Mikey chirped softly. _

_No reply, as usual. Mikey grimaced at his brothers and pressed his ear against the door. Nothing. He knocked again. "Leo, seriously, time to open up," his voice was a little louder. _

"_Ok, I'm getting sick of this," Raph pushed forward "Yo Fearless, open this door. I'm not playing around."_

"_C'mon Leo, you cant live in your room. You need to come out some time. Please, we can help you, but only if you tell us whats wrong," pleaded Donny to the heartless wood door._

_Not even the sound of shuffling feet could be heard from inside. _

"_Maybe he's meditating?" asked Mikey._

"_I don't like this," whimpered Don._

"_That's it, I'm going in," said Raph. "Donny, go get your tool kit; we're breaking this lock off."_

_don groaned, both at the idea of dragging a very distressed leader out of his sanctuary and at having yet another thing in the lair to fix. _

"_What do you suppose is wrong with him? I mean its not like he's gotten stabbed recently," Mikey almost joked but stopped himself._

"_I don't know," Raph replied. They looked at each other. Both knew that the Shredder taking over the world had been destroying him mentally, especially because of all the times they had fought the Shredder and lost. Maybe if they hadn't lost thing would have never gotten this far. Now they were forced to hide out like cowards._

_Don returned a minute later, tools in hand. He pulled out a screw driver. Knocking on the door he gave it one last try. "Ok Leo, last chance, we're coming in." With no reply Don set to work on the door knob, twisting and turning. _

"_Oh my God," h said after about 45 seconds. _

"_What?" they replied in unison. _

"_It looks like he's completely taken the whole half of the door knob off and jammed the lock!" he said, utterly bewildered. He pulled the rest of the door knob off the door. "Look, thees actually a hole where his side of the knob used to be!" They all looked through it. It was dark._

"_Can you open it?" asked Mikey, still looking through the hole. _

"_Of course. Back up," Don scoffed like that was the dumbest question in the world. _

_Raph, standing behind Don, was starting to panic slightly. What the shell was going on?_

_From out of his tool box don pulled a small hammer. He stuck his screw driver inside the door again and swiftly hit it with his hammer. There was a snap. He put the hammer down and twisted the screw driver. Sure enough, they heard the click of the door. Before Don had much time to move out of the way Raph threw the door open._

"_Leo?" The room was pitch black. Raph flicked on the light. _

_Nothing. The room stood in a remarkably destroyed state; the bed covers were strewn about, many soaked in burgundy dried blood. On one wall hung an obliterated mirror. The pieces were scattered about the floor, and there was a bloody three fingered hand print on the wall beside it. The trunk that was usually at the foot of his bed was pulled to the center of the room._

_Both Don and Mike's jaws dropped. Raph strode over to the center of the room and knelt down in front of the trunk._

"_Raph I wouldn't-" started Don, but Raph already had the lid open. He gasped quietly and the remaining brothers walked around to see what he was staring at. _

"_Oh my God..."_

"_No..."_

_They all stared down at the contents of the trunk. Inside it, right at the top, lay a tattered and bloody blue bandana, two sheathed katana, and a shoulder strap. _

"_No! No no no no no! He's gone! He cant be gone!" Raph growled as he picked up the bloody bandana, the dried blood crusting in his clenched palm. Without warning, he sprang up from his spot and bolted out the door._

"_Raphael, wait!" Don tried to command, but his voice cracked a little and Raph was already half way down the stairs. _

_Even if Raph had heard Donny, he wouldn't have listened. His head was spinning so fast he was surprised he could see straight enough to walk. His older brother was gone, his leader! What had happened? His katana, Leo would never, ever leave his katana!_

_He pulled a lever on the wall and bolted out of the lair, Don and Mikey not far behind. _

"_Raphael!" Don lunged forward and grabbed his shoulder. Raph stopped, and fell to his knees, the bandana still in hand. Don crouched down beside him as Mikey watched silently. Tears were beginning to creep out of his eyes. _

"_Where did he go? How did he get out?" Raph knew that was a dumb question. Leo was a ninja, and they hadn't exactly been guarding his door. "He'll come back," he tried to convince himself. "He has to." his voice was soft a he spoke, barely audible, like he was talking to himself. _

_Suddenly, he slammed his fists into the cement, making the puddles of sewer water fly viciously back at him. His eyes blazed, his teeth clenched as he understood what his brothers absence meant. He growled. _

"_He left us! He has to come back!" _

"_Raph, listen to me. There was something going on with him. I knew it. I could sense it. Something wasn't right," Don tried, but he knew his words were of no comfort. How could they be? Their brother was still gone._

"_Maybe he's still close by! We need to go find him!" Mikey croaked out. All of his childish energy was gone. _

"_I don't think so, Mikey. He probably left days ago," replied Don. He hated saying it, but he knew it was most likely true. _

_Meanwhile, Raph's temper was being fueled by the surge of memories that kept pushing themselves into his head: them when they were kids, Leo getting thrown through Aprils window, the fight the two of them had on the roof top after he'd returned from Central America. Mostly, he remembered the phase Leo had gone through after being stabbed by Karai, before he went to see the Ancient One, back when he thought he was not a good enough leader to lead them, and went completely mental._

"_Well what do we do?" asked Mikey. "I don't know about you two, but I'm going out to look for him." Raph pulled himself up and stumbled forward _

"_I'm coming with you," said Mikey as he attempted to follow him, but Don pulled him back. _

"_C'mon, we'll scout the South side of town. I think he needs to be alone."_

Outrage, betrayal, sorrow, fear. Raphael wasn't sure which of these he felt most but all were present and still remained very real to this day.


End file.
